Two epitaxial layers to reduce crosstalk in an image sensor

ABSTRACT

An image sensor includes a substrate of a first conductivity type having an image area with a plurality of photosensitive sites, wherein a portion of the charge generated in response to light is collected in the pixel; and a subcollector of a second conductivity spanning the image area that collects another portion of the generated charge that would have otherwise diffused to adjacent photosensitive sites.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Reference is made to and priority claimed from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/869,431, filed Dec. 11, 2006, entitled TWO EPITAXIAL LAYERS TO REDUCE CROSSTALK IN AN IMAGE SENSOR.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to the field of image sensors and, more particularly, to an image sensor having two epitaxial layers to reduce crosstalk.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Crosstalk results when a photogenerated carrier, say an electron, is generated beyond the depletion region beneath one photodiode or another photosensitive region, and the electron diffuses and/or drifts away and is collected by another photodiode or another photosensitive region. For clarity, photodiodes will be used as examples and the image sensor is assumed to be an array of pixels. Crosstalk by electrons reduces the modulation transfer function and mixes colors. Thus, it is desirable to reduce and/or eliminate such crosstalk.

Many image sensors based on charge-coupled devices (CCDs) are made in an n-epitaxial silicon layer on an n-type silicon substrate wafer. These imagers usually utilize a vertical overflow drain, which prevents electrons generated beyond the vertical overflow drain from reaching the photodiodes. Other image sensors are built in a p-epitaxial silicon layer on a heavily doped p-type silicon substrate. These p/p+ wafers are favored by silicon foundries for CMOS circuits. Thus, CMOS image sensors are usually made in p/p+ wafers to take advantage of the mainstream CMOS processes and circuits. Imagers made in p/p+ wafers lack the vertical overflow drain, so other methods have been tried. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,462, assigned to Eastman Kodak Company, teaches several crosstalk reduction schemes. Image sensor customers are presently demanding even more crosstalk reduction, so new approaches are needed. Various approaches have been tried with p/p+ wafers at CMOS foundries, but to date none has been sufficiently effective. Dongbu Electronics in U.S. Pat. No. 6,897,500 claims crosstalk reduction through an isolation layer surrounding each pixel. Such a structure consumes silicon area and is difficult to scale to smaller pixels. Thomson-CSF has patented a patterned subcollector method aimed at anti-blooming rather than crosstalk—U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,916,501 and 4,997,784. This approach is not as effective as the method proposed here and, in fact, part of the subcollector enhances the diffusion of electrons to other pixels. U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,670 suggests a method involving a potential barrier and lateral flow.

The present invention would reduce the number of photogenerated electrons that originate under one photodiode and diffuse and/or drift to another photodiode. This reduces the crosstalk. The invention introduces a buried n-doped region in a p-type epitaxial silicon layer on a p+ silicon substrate. The resulting pn junction is contacted and biased. A second p-type epitaxial silicon layer is deposited over the first p-epitaxial layer after the n-type dopant has been introduced. The pn junction collects the diffusing electrons and prevents them from reaching other photodiodes. The contact to the buried n-region is constructed within the second p-epitaxial layer. The CMOS circuits are built in the p-epitaxial/p-epitaxial/p+ substrate, i.e., the regions without the buried n-region, so the wafer is compatible with the standard CMOS offered by a foundry. In addition, this takes advantage of the excellent gettering of p/p+ substrates to reduce the metal concentrations in the device regions. The gettering lowers dark current and point defects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above. Briefly summarized, according to one aspect of the present invention, the invention resides in an image sensor comprising (a) a substrate of a first conductivity type having an image area with a plurality of photosensitive sites, wherein a portion of the charge generated in response to light is collected in the pixel; and (b) a subcollector of a second conductivity spanning the image area that collects another portion of the generated charge that would have otherwise diffused to adjacent photosensitive sites.

These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has the following advantage of reducing cross talk in an image sensor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-5 are cross sections of FIG. 6 illustrating a step in making the image sensor of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the image sensor of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a top view of an individual pixel of an active pixel sensor of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Before discussing the present invention in detail, it is instructive to note that the present invention is preferably used in, but not limited to, a CMOS active pixel sensor. Active pixel sensor refers to an active electrical element within the pixel, other than transistors functioning as switches. For example, the amplifier is an active element. CMOS refers to complementary metal oxide silicon type electrical components such as transistors which are associated with the pixel, but typically not in the pixel, and which are formed when the source/drain of a transistor is of one dopant type and its mated transistor is of the opposite dopant type. CMOS devices include some advantages one of which is they consume less power.

In the preferred embodiment, the invention will be described having n-type and p-type dopings. It is to be understood that the type of doping for the various components could be reversed without departing from the scope of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a p-type substrate 10 having a first p-type epitaxial layer 20 formed on (spanning and directly on) the substrate 10. Referring to FIG. 2, a screening oxide layer 30 is deposited atop the epitaxial layer 20 and a subcollector 40, preferably either As or Sb (which is well known to be an n-type), is then implanted into the first epitaxial layer 20 through the screening oxide layer 30. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, subcollector contact region 50 (not shown in FIG. 6), preferably P (n-type), are implanted along the periphery of the subcollector region 40. The screening oxide layer 30 is then removed, and referring to FIGS. 4 and 6, a second epitaxial layer 60 is grown on the first epitaxial layer 20. It is noted that the subcollector 40 and subcollector contact region 50 diffuse at different rates wherein the subcollector contact region 50 diffuse at a faster rate than the subcollector region 40. This is illustrated by the increased size of these regions from FIG. 3. A plurality of photosensitive sites 70 (n type), preferably photodiodes or photocapacitors in the case of a CCD or CMOS image sensor, are implanted into the second epitaxial layer 60. It is noted that the subcollector 40 is at a depth deeper than the photosensitive sites 70. It is noted that the photosensitive sites 70 may be implanted at this stage of the process or at some later point in the process.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, subsequent, an implant or a plurality of topside implants 80 are implanted to make contact with the subcollector contact region 50 (not shown in FIG. 6) of the subcollector 40 so that the subcollector 40 can be reverse biased with respect to the substrate 10. The subcollector 40 is reverse biased to drain off the carriers that could diffuse to adjacent photosites 70 thereby reducing crosstalk. Then well-known image sensor processing steps are performed to make a finished image sensor. Referring to FIG. 7, for example, active elements, such as the source follower amplifier 90, are added to the image sensor. The photosensitive sites 70 transfer charge to floating diffusion 100 (where it is converted to a voltage) via the transfer gate 110. The source follower 90 then senses the voltage for output as is well known in the art. These steps are well known in the art and will not be shown or discussed herein.

Still referring to FIG. 5, optionally in lieu of the topside implants 80, backside vias 120 can be formed through the substrate 10 to make electrical connections to the subcollector contact region 50.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications can be effected by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

PARTS LIST

-   10 p-type substrate -   20 first p-type epitaxial layer -   30 screening oxide layer -   40 subcollector -   50 subcollector contact regions -   60 second epitaxial layer -   70 photosensitive sites (photodiodes or photocapacitors) -   80 topside implants -   90 source follower amplifier -   100 floating diffusion -   110 transfer gate -   120 backside vias -   PD photodiode -   TG transfer gate -   FD floating diffusion -   RG reset gate -   VDD power supply -   SF (gate of) source follower transistor -   RS row select transistor -   Vout output 

1. An image sensor comprising: (a) a substrate of a first conductivity type having an image area with a plurality of photosensitive sites, wherein a portion of the charge generated in response to light is collected in the photosensitive sites; and (b) a subcollector of a second conductivity spanning the image area that collects another portion of the generated charge that would have otherwise diffused to adjacent photosensitive sites.
 2. The image sensor as in claim 1, wherein the subcollector is at a deeper depth than the photosensitive sites.
 3. The image sensor as in claim 1, wherein the image sensor is an active pixel sensor.
 4. The image sensor as in claim 1 further comprising a first epitaxial layer disposed on the substrate in which the subcollector is formed.
 5. The image sensor as in claim 4 further comprising a second epitaxial layer in which the photosensitive sites are disposed.
 6. The image sensor as in claim 4, wherein the image sensor is an active pixel sensor.
 7. The image sensor as in claim 1 further comprising one or more contacts that connect to the subcollector to reverse bias the subcollector with respect to the substrate.
 8. A method for making an image sensor, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a substrate having a first epitaxial layer; (b) implanting a subcollector in the first epitaxial layer; (c) implanting a subcollector contact region in the first epitaxial layer that connects to the subcollector; and (d) growing a second epitaxial layer on the first epitaxial layer.
 9. The method as in claim 8 further comprising the step of diffusing the subcollector and the subcollector contact region.
 10. The method as in claim 8 further comprising the step of providing one or more implants in the second epitaxial layer for providing connections to the subcollector contact region.
 11. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of providing a plurality of pixels each containing an active element for creating an active pixel sensor. 